This invention relates to a stainless duplex ferritic-austenitic steel having a unique combination of good mechanical properties and good corrosion resistance properties.
Heretofore, a stainless duplex ferritic-austenitic steel, designated AISI Type 329, has been commercially available with: a) good mechanical properties such as high annealed yield strength; and b) good corrosion resistance such as resistance to general corrosion in the presence of strong oxidizing agents (e.g., boiling nitric acid). Typical uses for Type 329 steel have included tube or pipe for heat exchange applications involving severely corrosive, oxidizing environments such as are found in the petroleum refining, petrochemical, chemical, and pulp and paper industries (e.g., in nitric acid cooler-condensers). Type 329 steel has typically had a composition of about 0.08 weight percent (w/o) Max. carbon, 1.0 w/o Max. manganese, 0.75 w/o Max. silicon, 23.0 to 28.0 w/o chromium, 2.5 to 5.0 w/o nickel, 1.0 to 2.0 w/o molybdenum, with the balance essentially iron. Compositions similar to Type 329 steel have been sold, containing down to about .02 w/o carbon, up to about 2 w/o manganese, up to about 6 w/o nickel, up to about 30 w/o chromium, up to about 3.5 w/o molybdenum and/or up to about 0.25 w/o nitrogen.
However, the resistance to intergranular corrosion in the presence of strong oxidizing agents and the resistance to pitting in the presence of halides, particularly chlorides, of Type 329 steel has left something to be desired in areas of the steel which have been welded, particularly in areas which have been welded but not subsequently annealed (e.g., in areas of a tube, formed from the steel, which have been welded into a tube sheet of a heat exchanger). Hence, a steel has been sought with mechanical properties and corrosion resistance properties at least as good as Type 329 steel and with intergranular corrosion resistance and pitting resistance, as welded or as welded plus annealed, that are superior to Type 329 steel.